Retro : Oh, ‘My Children’

Unrepenting addicts of “All My Children” may find it hard to believe that a quarter century has passed since Phil Brent went missing in action in Vietnam. And those fans who followed his return to Pine Valley and felt his pain when he discovered Tara had married another, will relive that pain--with no small amount of nostalgia--on Sunday night.

ABC is airing “The All My Children 25th Anniversary Special,” a retrospective of memorable story lines and popular characters that interweaves clips with reminiscences by past and present cast members, as well as fans. It is hosted by longtime devotee Carol Burnett, who has made three appearances on the soap.

Agnes Nixon, creator of “The Kids,” stands by a motto that dates to the vaudeville era: “Make them laugh, make them cry, make them wait.” Her philosophy has certainly paid off. On Jan. 5, the serial officially marked 25 years of keeping viewers glued to the goings-on in the lives of the Martins, Kanes, Tylers, Chandlers and other residents of Pine Valley, a fictional town in the Northeast. Generally rated second among the 10 daytime soaps, the show is No. 1 among the 18- to 49-year-old female demographic that advertisers so covet, and it counts males as 40% of its audience.

The show’s longevity still “amazes” Nixon, who also created ABC’s 27-year-old serial “One Life to Live.” “I can’t believe it--I thought about staying on the air 13 weeks!” she says with a laugh. When she wrote the original story line “bible” for the soap, she also could not envision the impact one particular character would have: the scheming yet vulnerable, much married but always looking for love Erica Kane, played by Susan Lucci.

“I think most writers write what interests them,” Nixon says. “Erica afforded me, aside from her own character’s foibles, a great plot generator, with (Erica’s mother) Mona and (Mona’s friend) Nick.”

Lucci, who began playing Erica when her alter ego was a 14-year-old high school student, calls her “a character full of wonderful things. I’ve had a wonderful time playing her, and I’m still doing it because I love her. I really do.”

The actress’ favorite memories include glamorous modeling sequences, and a 13-page food fight between herself and David Canary as Adam Chandler, which required a day’s work. On the other end of the emotions scale, when Frances Heflin, who played Erica’s exasperated mother (“Oh, Erica, how could you?” was uttered time and again) died last year, Erica had to deal with Mona’s passing.

“It was very gratifying to see how the audience related to that,” Lucci says. “Erica came to terms with how much she loved Mona.”

Through the years, Pine Valley nurse Ruth Martin (Mary Fickett), and devoted doctor-husband Joe have been the bedrocks of stability in town. “There has to be some core around which other people disintegrate and come together again,” Fickett says. “If the place were in chaos all the time, you wouldn’t have some place to bounce off of. They’ve had problems--Ruth was raped, and she had an affair--but viewers want to believe that there is a core.”

The fact that even the virtuous Ruth was not immune from life dilemmas underscores Nixon’s penchant for dramatizing social concerns. Fickett won her Emmy after her character, whose son was missing in action in Vietnam, delivered an anti-war speech. Other issues dealt with on the soap: abortion, prostitution, alcoholism, AIDS, mistreatment of the elderly, diabetes and blindness, racism and incest.

“I feel we have an obligation to inform,” Nixon says, as well as to entertain.

Certainly one fan who knows entertainment when she sees it is “Anniversary Special” host Carol Burnett, who has been addicted to the soap since the mid-1970s. After getting a bit role as a patient in 1976, she returned in 1983 for a two-week stint as Verla Grubbs, long-lost daughter of Langley Wallingford--during which she was surprised by her friend Elizabeth Taylor, in a walk-on role. Burnett reprised Grubbs during the anniversary shows this month.

What does Burnett feel is the key to the show’s longevity? “They touch on a lot of serious things and they do it beautifully. It keeps up with the times.”

“The All My Children 25th Anniversary Special” airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on ABC. The soap airs weekdays at noon on ABC.